Things hadn't turned out the way Barry Brunetti envisioned as a freshman quarterback at West Virginia.

The former Memphis University School star wasn't playing much -- appearing briefly in four games for the Mountaineers -- after losing a battle for the starting job in preseason practice.

But it wasn't until late October, when Brunetti's mother, Elna, could no longer travel to Morgantown for games because of complications from a car wreck last year, that Brunetti decided it was time transfer to a school closer to home.

Brunetti said Tuesday that school will be Ole Miss, the University of Memphis or Arkansas State -- and he called the Rebels "the team to beat."

"It had been on my mind since like September, after I found out about my mom's situation," Brunetti said of his decision to transfer. "She came to the first two or three home games, and that's when she really started having problems with her neck. She started going to the doctor and stuff, and when she was in the car for a long time it just kept hurting and kept hurting.

"I mean, I was just kind of put in a bad situation with the football, but I liked it and everything. I had fun with the teammates. I loved those teammates. But I weighed the pros and cons of leaving and not leaving, and I feel like the best decision was to come back closer."

Brunetti (6-0, 207), a former U.S. Army All-American and Parade All-American at MUS, said he planned to meet with Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt, Memphis coach Larry Porter and Arkansas State coach Hugh Freeze in the coming days and make a decision by next week so he can enroll for the spring semester.

After transferring, Brunetti won't be eligible to play until next December -- unless he qualifies for a hardship waiver from the NCAA.

"All my friends, my family -- everybody's excited that I'm coming back because they felt like I should've been closer anyway. And I feel like I should have been closer," said Brunetti. "I learned a lot. Even though I didn't play that much this year, I'm a much better quarterback in the classroom and in the film room and stuff like that."

Brunetti admitted he's leaning toward Ole Miss, but said he wanted to sit down and have "a good talk" with Porter, who stated last week he planned to "put together a sales pitch to try and bring (Brunetti) back home." Brunetti said his interest in Arkansas State stems from his admiration for Freeze, the Red Wolves' new head coach who previously served as an assistant at Ole Miss and head coach at Lambuth. Freeze also guided Briarcrest Christian to state titles in 2002 and '04.

"I haven't really picked Ole Miss, but I would say they're right now the team to beat," Brunetti said. "But I would never have sent my release papers to Memphis if they weren't in there."

Rivals.com rated Brunetti the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback prospect in the Class of 2010. He went undefeated as a starter at MUS, accounting for more than 4,700 yards of total offense and 72 touchdowns his junior and senior seasons while leading MUS to back-to-back state titles.